Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-07-08

10 staGger and confound any man who
lo'es ms God and his country. Now. in
view OF this fact, l am in favor of compul-
sory education. When parents are so
pesual as to neglect this duty to the child,
l say me law, with strong hand, at the
same tlme with gentle hand, ought 10
Ie "a, these little ones into the light of in
,,eA,gence and good morals. 1t was q
beautiful tableau when in our city a
swarthy policeman having picked ND a lost
enid IN the street, was found appeasing its
CRIES with stick of candy he had bought
at the apple stand. That was we'll done,
and beautifully done. But, oh! these
thousands of little ones through our
streets who are crying for the bread of
knowledge and intelligence. Shall we not
give it TO- them? The officers of the law
ought to go down into the cellars, and up
INTO the garrets, and bring out these
oenlghted little ones and put them under
eoucatlonai influences; after they have
passed through the bath and under the
comb, putting before them the spelling
BOOK, and teaching them to read the Lords
prayer and the sermon on tho mount:
BLESSED are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the KINGDOM of Heaven" Our city ought
to be father and mother both to these out
cast little ones. AS recipe for the cure
OF much OF the woe, and want and crime of
our city, I give the words which Thor
waldsen had chseled on the open scroll in
the hand of the statue of John Gutenberg,
the inventor of the art of printing: Let
there be light"
Still further: Reformatory societies are
an important element in the rectification
OF the public fountain. Without calling
any of them by name, refer more espe-
claily to those which recognize the phys
zeal as we'll as the moral woes of the world.
There was pathos and great deal of COM
mon sense in wha' the poor woman said to
Dr. Guthrie when he was telling her what
q very good woman she ought to be. ooh. D
she said, "if you were MS hungry and cold
as am, You could think of nothing else. !"
l believe the great want Of our city is the
Gospel and something to eat. Faith and
repentance are of infinite Importance; but
they cannot satisfy an empty stomach.
You have to so forth in this work with the
bread OF eternal life in your right hand and
the bread of this life in your left hand, and
then you can touch them, initiating the
Lord Jesus Christ, who first broke the
bread and fed the multitude in the wilder
ness, and then began to preach, recognize
ing the fact that while people are hungry
they will not listen and they will not re-
pent We want more common sense in
magnificent theories, and more hard work.
Still further: The great remedial in
tiuence is the gospel of Christ. Take that
down through the lanes of suffering. Take
that down amid the novels of sin. Take
that up amid the mansions and palaces of
your city. That is the salt that can cure
all the poisoned fountains of public in
iquity. Do you know that in this cluster
of three cities, New York, Jersey City,
and Brooklyn, there are great multitude
of homeless children? You see 1 speak
more in regard to the youth and the chill
dren of the country, because old villains
are seldom reformed, and therefore, I talk
more about the little ones. They sleep
under the stoops, in the burned out safe,
in the wagons in the streets, on the barges,
them. And in the summer they sleep all
night long in the parks. Their restitution
is we'll set forth by an incident. city
missionary asked one of them: :Where is
your home?" Said he: II don't have no
home, SIR" "Well, where are your father
and mother?" "They are dead, sir" "Did
YOU ever hear of Jesus Christi" "No,
don't think 1 ever heard of him." "Did
you ever hear of God?" "Yes. I've heard
OF God. Some of the poor people think it
kind Of lucky at night to say something
over about that before they go to sleep.
Yes. sir, I've heard of him." Think of a
conversation like that in Christian city.
How many are waiting for you to come
out in the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ
and rescue them from the wretchedness
here! Oh, that the church of G cd had arms
long enough and hearts warm enough to
take them up! How many of them there
are! AS was thinking of the subject this
morning, it seemed to me as though there
was great brink, and that these little ones
with cut and torn feet were coming on
toward it. And here is a group of orphans.
Oh, fathers and mothers, what do you
think of these fatherless and motherless
little ones? No hand at home to tade care
of their apparel, no heart to pity them.
Said one little one, when the mother died:
"Who will take care of my clothes now?"
The little ones are thrown out in this great,
cold world. They are shivering on the
brink like lambs on the verge of precipice.
Does not your blood run cold as they go
over it?
And here is another group that come on
toward the precipice. They are the children
than orphans. Look at that pale cheek;
woe oleached it. Look at that cash across
the forehead the father struck it. Hear
that heart-piercing cry; drunken mothers
blasphemy compelled it. And we come out
and say 90 We suffering, peeled and bis
tered ones, we come TO help YOU" "Too
late!" cry thousands of voices; "the path
We travel is steep down, and we can't stop.
Too late" And we catch our breath and
make terrific optcry. "1oo late!" il
echoed from the garnet to the cellar, from
the gin shop and from the brothel. "Too
late!" 1t is too late, and they go over.
Here is another group, an army of neg
lected children. They come on toward the
brink, and every time they step 10000
hearts break. The ground is red with the
blood of their feet. The air is heavy with
their groans. Their ranks are being filled
up from all the houses of iniquity and
shame. Skeleton Despair pushes them on
toward the brink. The death knell has
already begun to toll, and the angels of
God hover like birds over the plunge of a
cataract. While these children are on the
brink they halt, ana throw out their hands
and cry: Help! help" Oh, church of
God, will you help? Men and women
bought by the blood of the Son of God, will
YOU help? while Christ cries from the
heavens: "Save them from going down; l
am the ransom"
/ stopped on the street and just looked
at the face of one Of those little ones. Have
YOU ever examined the faces of the neg
Iected children of the poor? Other children